Death threats and attacks: Tory MPs tell of abuse hell

Review ordered after MPs report intimidation, vandalism and thuggery on the campaign trail

TORY election candidates have told how they have been physically assaulted, sent death threats and forced to request police protection during the campaign, a Sunday Telegraph investigation can reveal.

One MP says he had to call the police after being told he would be “strung up” in a chilling online message. Another was shoved and verbally abused at a social event after an election hustings, with bystanders having to intervene.

A third female candidate running for the first time was given a police hotline to call and assigned an officer after repeated threats. The woman had stopped parking near her home and never campaigned alone by polling day. She is now reconsidering whether she wants to be an MP. The stories provide a shocking insight into the reality of campaigning in an election that many MPs said saw worse abuse and intimidation than ever before.

Three Tory candidates – Johnny Mercer, Nigel Evans and Byron Davies – today go public with their accounts of abuse, while a fourth speaks on the condition of anonymity. Their experiences raise serious questions about the safety of MPs a year after the killing of Jo Cox, the Labour MP stabbed to death in her Batley and Spen constituency.

This newspaper has learned that Theresa May has been so appalled that she has launched a review into what can be done, including possible criminal sentences for people who intimidate MPs. It came after concerns were raised at a Cabinet meeting this week.

THUGS who intimidate prospective MPs on the campaign trail could face tougher criminal sentences after Theresa May ordered a review over “shocking” stories from colleagues.

Electoral laws could also be tightened amid fears that vandalism of Tory campaign posters was deliberately orchestrated for party political gain.

The ideas will form part of a review the Prime Minister ordered this week after being challenged in Cabinet about the scale of intimidation seen during the election.

Mrs May has tasked her new Number 10 policy unit with drawing up plans for better protecting politicians in one of their first major projects since the vote. It is understood a period of “evidence gathering” will be undertaken in the coming weeks with MPs urged to share their experiences with Downing Street.

A string of proposals will follow, focusing on tackling the violent messages sent to politicians on social media and intimidation on the doorstep.

It has only been just over a year since Jo Cox, the Labour MP, was shot and stabbed to death by a far-right extremist after a meeting in her West Yorkshire constituency.

Politicians today go public with their experiences in The Sunday Telegraph as the full scale of intimidation faced on the campaign trail is revealed.

Many have told this newspaper the abuse they experienced on the campaign trail was worse than any other election they have fought in. Andrea Leadsom, the Commons Leader, this week brought up her concerns in Cabinet about how MPs were treated. She is understood to have voiced her alarm at the stories she heard from colleagues after they returned to Parliament.

A Downing Street source said of the Cabinet discussion: “Ministers heard that many MPs have come forward to say they experienced hatred and abuse – particularly from the hard Left. The strength of feeling and the scale of the problem were unlike anything seen at previous general elections.

“As the Prime Minister has said, this kind of behaviour has no place in our democracy, and Cabinet agreed to look at how we can stop it from happening again.”

One feature of the review will be the repeated defacement and destruction of Tory posters during the campaign.

MPs across the country have described how their posters were dubbed with swastikas, torn in half or altered with expletives.

A Cabinet minister said: “The average life of a poster was about 12 hours before it was defaced beyond recognition. I had a Hitler moustache drawn on, bright red devil eyes, messages of ‘Tory scum’. Most posters didn’t even last the night.”

Tory politicians repeatedly told this newspaper they believe the destruction was orchestrated rather than a spontaneous outbursts by a few louts.

There are tight spending limits on local campaigns, with no candidate allowed to spend more than £15,000. Large campaign billboards can cost up to £50.

Tories said that repeated destruction of posters meant it was too expensive to replace them or they waited until the very end to put up new ones.

One senior campaigner said: “We didn’t put up a big amount of posters until the day before the election because they would get smashed. It looks like you’re not campaigning as much as the other parties.”

Mrs May went public with her anger at the treatment of MPs this week. She said: “I’ve been absolutely shocked at the number of colleagues who have talked to me about intimidation and harassment, about bullying during the election campaign.

“There is no place in our democracy for behaviour like that. I’m determined to stamp it out.”

‘The strength of feeling and the scale of the problem were unlike anything seen at previous general elections’